Pokemon: Project Equality
by Moonstruck-Mist
Summary: Project Equality. No one knows what exactly it is. No one knows who funds it or why. What they do know, is that a madman runs it, or so goes the rumors on the internet. For our heroes, the lessons they learn through their transformative journey is one quite... unfamiliar. Humans, Pokémon, nature. Are they all that different?
1. Here we Start

What do people usually associate the sound thump with? The sound of someone falling against a wall as their legs wake up? The sounds of a person hitting their head against a bedhead or desk, perhaps? Maybe even the sound of someone falling to the ground after being punched? For Aaron, that third one was the reason he was making such sounds, as well as a bunch of whimpers and groans of pain. He found himself curled up on the floor, his nose bloody and skin bruised as he was kicked, laughter echoing around him from no less than a crowd of ten. They were screaming, too, but it sounded like cheers to him, wonderful and happy cheers.

"That's what you get four-eyes!" One of the characters above, a male by the sound of their voice, spit on him shoulder, then kicked him again in the back. "You ever come back here again, no one will stop us from kicking your ass! Remember this, short stack." Another kick, and then a scoff. "Come on, gang. Get your final kicks in; we're leaving before those cops show up and ruin the fun."

There was a slight grunt from the people around. Each of them gave him an additional kick before they laughed and walked off. The last person remaining got in two solid kicks to the back before they too rushed off. Aaron was left to lay on the floor, his body shaking from the fear and pain that was coursing through his entire being.

As he was lying there, the faint sounds of footsteps began to near him. He remained curled up, arms over his stomach as though preparing for another strike by some unknown assailant. However, as the footsteps came to a stop, no further sound came to attack him. Instead, it was the sound of a bag being dug into that comforted his ears.

"Hey, you okay down there?" More rustling before it stopped. The person who had spoken lowered down to him, grunting as they got on a knee. "You look like you're in a bit of a tight spot, kid. You need a little help?" There was no response from Aaron. "I'll take that as a yes. Alright. Come on. Get up."

The figure was as polite as they could be as they grabbed Aaron's arms and pulled him to his feet, for the moment. He fell back down on his rear, continuing to cry as a mess even as the other person tried to help them. Still, they were nice enough to try and wipe down his face with a wet cloth, likely a baby wipe or something similar. He didn't know, nor did he care to ask with how horrible he felt for accepting some random stranger's help.

"There, there, no need to cry." The voice was so cheery, like nothing could go wrong. They sounded so happy to be there, helping him, and he felt absolutely horrible for it. They could be helping better people, people more worth their time, but he found himself unable to put forward such a statement. "There we go." With a final wipe, she had cleaned off his face and arms, and all politely, too. "You look fresh as rain now!"

"I... Tha-... Thank you." Aaron wasn't sure why he struggled so hard to speak to the nice and patient human. He had never struggle to do so before. "I don't mean to be... to be a burden to you, ma'am or sir." He looked a bit further down, his arms shaking as the gripped onto the wrist of the other arm, almost tight enough to strangle them.

"It's quite alright. Please, just call me Shelby, everyone does; I'm a girl, by the way. I'm not one of those people who are so sensitive that they scream if you get their orientation wrong." She laughed lightly, sitting in front of him with her legs crossed. "Since I shared with you my name, may I have yours in return? It only seems like a fair share between the two of us."

Aaron remained silent as he repeatedly said her name in his head. He knew he'd forget if he didn't, so now was his chance so not to embarrass himself down the road. "Um... I-It's Aaron, Miss Shelby. My name is Aaron."

"Well, it is nice to meet you, Aaron. By the way, there is no need to call me, miss. I think that makes me look a little old for someone who still has some seventy or so years left in her life." She finished her sentence with a giggle, almost choking a little on her own air. "Ack, I'm sorry - it's just a little funny to me how you called me miss."

Aaron again looked down, a little disappointed in himself at how he made someone laugh at his manners again. He didn't mean to be funny at all - that was just how he acted when he was around people. "I'm sorry, ma'am. I don't mean to be rude to you, or funny at all. I'm just trying to be nice to someone who helps fools like me."

Shelby again laughed at him, but this was a laugh of humor this time. "Well, it might just be that people don't expect people to be nice to them immediately. It might just be that, or maybe something about how you speak. It is quite funny in my opinion."

Aaron puffed his cheeks in mild annoyance. He hadn't had such treatment in ages, and while he didn't mind it, it was fairly annoying to have to deal with it again. Still, he said nothing as he then looked up to Shelby, and what a sight to behold. Shelby was, without a doubt, one of the cutest people he had ever met. She was pale, almost too pale, with white hair that ended in sea-blue tips. Her eyes were a dream-like teal, so shiny and bright through her glasses. And she had an amazing body, though he was less impressed with that since, well, he wasn't one to care. Still, she looked amazing!

Their eyes met for a moment as he stared at her, then they quickly looked away. Aaron was too embarrassed to speak, and Shelby seemed pretty ashamed that he had been looking at her. The silence remained for quite a while, until another sound took their minds off of each other.

"Hey, let me go! Stop touching me!" From across the street, a loud shout could be heard, followed by grunting and a loud scream. The duo looked over to see a black-haired male being grabbed by people wearing masks. "Fuck off me, dipshites!"

Shelby stood quickly, almost as though she had been expecting such a thing. For a moment, she tensed, but then ran away and to where the fight was taking place. "Hey! Hands off him, jerk!" She swung a right hook at the back of one of the people's heads and knocked him down, only to get socked in the jaw by another. "Ow! That hurt!"

Aaron was slowly standing as the two tried to fight back against the weird people in masks, but he saw that they were going to be losing it quickly. There were about five of them, and only two resistors. Anyone who would have been in the streets at that time were likely hiding away so they didn't get the life beat out of them. Aaron remained standing, his heart thumping as he too small steps that gradually grew until he was full on sprinting at them.

He noticed one of them turn as he neared, and so he did, too, ramming his shoulder into someone as they tried to throw Shelby into the ground. The three of them were forced to the ground, the masked villain getting the worst end as he was slammed face-first into cement. Shelby, luckily, managed to catch herself, getting only a few scrapes while Aaron landed on the weirdo.

"Watch where you tackle next time, Aaron! Almost broke my wrist with that tackle!" Shelby snapped as she stood, wiping off her arms as another two folks came from the van. "Great, now there's more of them. Get off your lazy ass before someone gets sh-"

Her words left unfinished as a loud bang echoed through the streets. Everything went silent as Shelby stumbled back, hand on her hip, blood flowing slowly down her waist and to her thigh. She then fell to her knees, too shocked to say anything, though she did croak a small cry of pain.

"Men, what have I told you about doing these things in the middle of the streets?" A large man with shoulders as firm as a fridge walked from behind the roughhousing individuals. He looked at the shocked and pained faces then focused on the wounded female. "Marcus, get the box. Can't believe you've gone and made me shoot a child."

Someone spoke loudly before the back of the truck flew open, steam flowing from it and coating the ground. What would have been resisting stopped as Aaron and the remaining guy were grabbed from behind and forced to the floor. Three clicks followed, and a cold metallic barrel, two to the other guy, were pushed against their heads.

There were a few seconds of silence before a rather fragile-looking male ran over to the large man, then set a box at his feet. There was a moment of silence as the man easily opened the metal lid, and steam billowed out and onto the streets. "You three have really gone and fucked yourselves up. We only wanted Wilhelm, but you two had to come in and try to save him. Haha, what a selfless bunch of freaks you are."

Aaron watched the man, then looked to the guy who appeared to be crying. He felt a tinge of guilt, but also some happiness, but then looked down to Shelby. She looked like she was in horrible pain, and he knew that was his fault all the way. His heart dropped as the metal against his head was pushed slightly further, making itself more known to him.

While this was happening to him, Wilhelm felt a bit more disgust. His face revealed all of his anger and disgust, but also bits of fear and joy. The metal barrel against his head didn't scare him, not even a single bit. Instead, it filled him with a sadistic joy, one he couldn't even pretend to hide. He began to laugh, his captor looking at him confused.

"Quit your laughing, kid. There's nothing funny about this at all." Still, Wilhelm continued to laugh, catching the gazes of more and more people. "I told you to shut up!" The man lifted his weapon to bring it down upon Wilhelm's head, but he was too slow as Wilhelm spun and plunged a knife deep into the man's left shoulder. "Ahh! Fuck, they're armed!"

"Oh, not them, just me!" Wilhelm was quick to pull the bloodied knife out of the man's shoulder and swung it at the other, cutting his chest and pushing him away. He then threw it at the man holding down Aaron. Its base slammed into the man's chest, knocking him back a little. "Fight, new kid! These idiots don't know a thing about pulling their own triggers!"

Aaron found himself at a loss of words as the knife landed at his knees. He looked at it, then, in a rush of adrenaline, he grabbed it and turned, his body shaking at his forced himself to plunge it into the man's chest. He avoided anything vital, but still found himself attacking him to protect himself. "Please forgive me," he whispered, kicking the man away and onto the floor with a gaping wound that just missed his heart.

After taking a moment to gather himself, he turned and noticed that the rest of the men had backed off, Wilhelm holding one of them in a chokehold with a mag-less weapon. It didn't look like it had any ammo, but Aaron was sure there was at least a single shot in there. The only one who hadn't backed away as the fridge-stance guy, who was holding some sort of beige-colored, bone-like helmet with a spear on it. He appeared so close to putting it on the female's head. Just another inch and it would be there, doing who-knows-what.

"Ah, I see you have both chosen to fight back, as I would have expected. Still, you should both know that I, unlike you, have planned for as many fights as possible. You can take out my men, yes, but you can't win this fight." He smirked and glared at both of them. "We are a group you can never understand, never with your simplistic ideal! We are the men who will make this world better! All humans and Pokémon, side by side, living free lives as equal entities! Of course, you wouldn't understand what I mean... with how easily you have fallen for our illusions."

The man broke into a fit of laughter as the air around them began to tear itself apart, like space itself was being torn to shreds before all of their eyes. Wilhelm broke off from his chokehold as the man fell to the floor; turning to a sandbag that broke apart; all of their weapons, even Wilhelm's knife, turned into potatoes; and Shelby's wound healed like it had never been there in the first place.

Wilhelm stumbled back, onto to hit a solid wall, his eyes widening as he felt behind him. Yep, that was a concrete wall preventing him from running away and escaping. "You... How did you pull off this trick? There's no way illusions can be this real, no matter what you do to cause them. Even hallucinogens can't make this seem relatively real."

"Oh, you have no idea who it is you're messing with!" He licked his lips as a small tuft of red and black fur sprouted from his head. "Humans, Pokémon, will all know the power of Equality! We are destiny, we are the world! We are those who will show to everyone the power of their God!"

His laugh began to slow as his eyes turned red, his body shrinking itself down as black fur began to grow from his skin. A tail formed from his pants as his clothes began to wrinkle and fade away like the sky and walls around them. His hands dropped the helmet onto Shelby's head as they turned to paws, then his arms shrunk down into short black legs, his legs following the same fate. His nose shortened and a black tip formed on the darkened fur as his ears faded away while giant black ones replaced them. His cackling became a higher pitch as the transformation between man and creature began to stop. In a matter of seconds, what had once been a human was now a Zorua.

"You see now, young humans? Pokémon can do anything humans can do better than anyone else! And you too will see this power for yourselves!" He smirked and licked his lips again. "In fact, it is already too late to run. No matter where you go, you have already lost this game of cat and mouse, especially you, Wilhelm. Oh, especially you."

Wilhelm clenched his fist, glaring at the Zorua, then at Shelby. He seemed to calm a little, his frown becoming a grin. "Oh, is that so? All you did was drop a helmet onto someone's head. I'm pretty sure we're fine. If that was all a lie, then I'm sure, too, that this is a deeper lie. You can't trick me, little fox thing."

Wilhelm noticed the fox grin before he was grabbed from behind. The rough texture of a wall grabbed at his wrists, while the floor suddenly expended up and around his legs. His eyes widened as he attempted to pull from it, but nothing he did worked. He wanted to scream it was an illusion, but it was too real. Every tiny cut was too real to deny, and the coldness against his skin was another reminder of its existence. He looked up to notice Aaron looking somewhere distant, like none of this existed to him.

"Lies can be deceitful, but so can the truth, young human." The Zorua pulled from the box a large syringe with a purple, boiling liquid inside of it. "The truth is as much of a mask as the everyday lie, and you should know this more than anyone, Wilhelm." He neared, again licking his lips. "You may be wondering why, but, well, that's not my question to answer. In fact, that is your question to find. And now, the games can truly begin!" He lunged forward and stabbed Wilhelm's leg with the boiling hot liquid.

Wilhelm's face turned from anger to pain in an instant. His body tensed, his lip quivering as the fluid was forced into his body. Then, as the syringe was pulled out, an unholy screech came from his lips. His skin bubbled at the entrance wound, only to seal mere moments afterward. Then, he fell to the floor, the wall releasing him and allowing him to twitch in the great amounts of pain he was in on the floor.

"And now, for you." The Zorua grinned and walked over to the box. The steam inside was beginning to dissipate, revealing that there were only two items inside it left. The first was a yellow life-preserver shaped item, though it looked too small to actually save lives.. The other was some sort of bright yellow-orange stone that held within it a fire. "Fire... or water? What would fit such a fool? Oh, what would_ fir _indeed." He hummed, taking his time as the human stood there in a daze. His eyes then wandered up to the female with the helmet on. She was grasping her head, as though trying to fight some internal voice. "Water..." he began before looking at Wilhelm, "or fire. Hmm... How about... water? Yeah, another water-type." He set the stone back in the box and hopped his way over to the human.

When close by, he put the preserver in his maw and flexed his claws. The human as a bit too high in this form, but he felt it too bothersome to change back just to change to his natural form once more. Instead, he grabbed onto the human's clothing and dragged himself up. He tore holes into both his shorts and pants as he slowly moved closer to the head of his third and final target. It took a few seconds, as well as a few accidental nicks, but he did it, then forced the preserver over Aaron's head and around his throat. The Zorua then let go and fell to the ground, his ears twitching as the sounds of deflating air blew around him.

He turned his head to see what was happening, before a wild grin formed on his face. He noticed the helmet he had dropped on Shelby's head had sunk a little, while her arms had fallen to her sides limply. When he noticed her beginning to twitch, he smirked and turned towards the wall before heading away and phasing through it. Finally, the second illusion shattered, and they appeared in a lonely room of a nearby shop.

Shelby's vision faded in and out for a few moments before a heaviness gripped her like a blanket. She took a shallow breath, her eyes glancing weakly to either of her sides before collapsing. She heard two other thuds soon follow, before she finally passed out. Everything went dark as a weak pain overtook her senses, followed by emptiness and a void of timeless ideas...

No one was sure of how long they were out. The next thing Shelby knew, she was waking in a cold, purely white room, with a loud beeping to both her left and her right. Her initial reaction would have been to shoot up, screaming bloody hell, but an odd sense of calm kept here laying down, believing everything was alright in the moment. Of course, she knew it wasn't, but she was hopeful.

As she laid there, her thoughts began to wander to what had happened before she had woken up. It was a slight blur, with only a few words easily recalled, but she found a few details of the attack still existed in her mind. She could recall her body being shocked and then falling to her knees, then someone saying she had been shot. Of course, she hadn't, but why would they say that? The rest before the weird helmet being dropped on her head was a blur. It was almost like it had never happened, but was instead a long-lost dream.

"Ah, I see you're awake now." The voice to reach Shelby's ears was that of a female, one she couldn't see. There was a small series of footsteps, followed by a light hiss before someone stepped close to and looked over Shelby. "Ah, you look like you've gotten some sleep finally. Ah, how are you, Miss Shelby? Rested, I hope."

"I... I... Yeah, I think so..." Shelby slowly moved to sit up, accepting a little assistance from the person next to her to move back and keep herself sitting up. "What happened? And where are those other two guys? Are they here, too?"

"Yes, they are in another room talking to police who are on the case of the person who they said attacked you." She smiled and sat on the bed. "The doctor said you would be allowed to go when you woke if you were able to walk. Everything was fine save a little dehydration and a small blow to the back of the head from this helmet they found you with." She motioned to a nearby table, which held the odd Samurott-inspired helmet. "It is yours, right?"

Shelby turned to the mentioned helmet, her heart suddenly picking up in rate as she saw it. There was a moment of silence before she nodded. "Y-yeah... I-it is mine, ma'am... It is indeed mine..."

"I was wondering. One of the boys, Wilhelm he called himself, said it was forced upon you by some man who was actually a Zorua. Of course, what you say contradicts that, but is undeniable. Your fingerprints were the only ones that anyone could find on it, and it even lacked any pad-marks from Pokémon like Zorua or any closely related relatives."

Shelby nodded. "Yeah, I know... He was a bit crazy when he was attacked by those freaks... They just came out of nowhere and... attacked him..." She was silent for a moment before she reached over and grabbed the helmet. Something about it felt wrong, but she grabbed it anyways and looked into where the eyes would normally be. "I wonder if what I saw was even real, too."

"Well, you're in perfectly fit condition, but without a parent or guardian present, we may never know, Miss Shelby. Still, please be safe. You are free to go, but please don't get into any more fights. After what we heard, I think it is best you stay out of these situations any longer."

Shelby nodded, flinching a little as electrodes on her body were removed. She was allowed to get off the bed, then given back her clothes, smiling as they had been washed and cleaned. At least she wouldn't be dirty on her way home... That thought made her heart drop. What was she going to tell her dad? Maybe she could stay with one of the guys and use the excuse she was hanging out with some friends for the day... Yeah, maybe that would work out. She pulled on her undergarments, then her shirt and pants, before tying it all up with a belt. She reached up to push her glasses to their original position, but found them gone. She could still see perfectly! Had her eyes healed from the accident or whatever? Maybe, maybe not. She had no idea, but appreciated it anyways.

She took a moment to think to herself before putting the helmet under her armpit and looked towards the doorway. Initially, she took unsteady steps, but soon found her balance after about three minutes. Her legs were still a bit exhausted, but there wasn't really much to keep her from stretching them now. She took an additional minute and a half before she finally left the room. There, she looked to both her left and right, but barely noticed anything out of place. The most obvious things were the various people wandering the halls, as well as the guy that she had rushed over to help. Wilhelm, if she recalled his name right.

Shelby was a bit hesitant before she steeled up her courage and walked over. "Umm... Mr. Wilhelm, right?" The male turned, his eyes red and exhausted. When he didn't speak, she continued. "I don't mean to disturb you, but I was wondering... are you okay? You look like you were hit by a bus."

He was silent for a moment before he shrugged and looked to the opposite wall. "I may as well have been. That Zorua stabbed me in the leg and now I'm being told I have some sort of virus flowing through my bloodstream. Of course, I'm being let out since I sort of can't stay here and they have blood samples now, but yeah, I'm just peachy!" He crossed his arms, leaning against the wall before finally letting out a sigh. "I'm sorry, but I just have a bad feeling about things right now. I doubt whatever happened was just another illusion. It was too damn real."

Shelby nodded, leaning against the wall with her hands behind her back, a single finger looping around the spear to keep it from falling. "Yeah, but there's nothing we can really do about it now. It may have been fake, and we may be here right now, but I'm sure not too much has changed. I'm pretty sure all of what was said was just some mumbo jumbo from an abandoned Pokémon who wanted revenge on their trainer. At least, that's what I think about it." She looked down when he didn't respond. "Would you mind if we were friends? It may be good if we remain in touch after this whole mess."

Wilhelm remained silent, his arms crossing before he nodded. He then turned and looked at her. "While I want to believe you, I sure as hell know that whatever happened out there was not part of any revenge plot. That thing had intention; I could hear it in its voice. That thing stabbed me and dropped that helmet on you. Whatever he did to Aaron, I don't care. You can be passive, but I sure as hell don't trust what I saw..." He sighed, then brushed a bit of hair from his face. "Kid, Shelby, I mean, let's just exchange phone numbers or something. I'll send you both a message when I get home. We can agree on that, yes?"

Shelby smiled and nodded. "Yeah, of course we can." She reached out to shake his hand, but he didn't return the favor. After a minute, she pulled her hand back and shoved it in her pocket. "So, umm... Where is Aaron? Are they gonna let him out?"

"Yeah, but the cops still want to question him for a little while. Already got his contacts, though, so I think we can leave and send him something on the hours that follow." Wilhelm uncrossed his arms then looked to Shelby. "Kid, whatever happened out there, tell no one about what you saw. Whatever that was, was definitely illegal with a capital lawsuit. Keep your eyes open, and your ears even more alert, got it?

"Yeah, yeah, no need to worry about me." Shelby set down the helmet then looked around. "Umm... where are the pens and paper? I don't - ouch!" Something solid hit her head then clinked to the ground. She rubbed her forehead before turning down, noticing a pen attached to a bit of paper. Shelby then looked up to Wilhelm, then grabbed it and wrote down her number. It didn't take long before she handed it back to him. "Call or text, okay. I expect something by midnight."

"Yeah, yeah, I figured." He sighed and shoved the pen and paper into his pocket, then looked down the hall. "We should go now. I'm not sure why, but something about this place is really beginning to make me feel like we're in the wrong place at the wrong time..." He sighed and turned, walking past Shelby on his way to find the exit. "See you tomorrow. We'll find out where when Aaron's back up or out or something."

Wilhelm wandered his way out of the hospital with the help of many signs and some staff. When he approached the front lobby, a sudden sickness welled up in his throat. He ran to the nearest trash can and puked up his breakfast, and a bunch of purple liquid. It was a solid minute of him standing there, hand on his gut as everything flowed out like Niagara Falls. When it was finally done, he backed off, wiping his lips and spitting a bit into his shirt. It was a little bit of purple liquid, which Wilhelm wiped off and threw in the trash can.

He shook his hand before he stepped out through the front door. As the cold wind hit him, he took a minute to turn and look around where he was. He could see flashing blue and red across the parking lot, which was about 100-200 feet away. Turning, he could see an emergency entrance to his left and a way to leave to the right. The sirens remained the only sounds in the dead of night as he took gentle steps away from the hospital.

At the door, the nurse that had attended to Shelby watched him. In her hand, a single rod of metal dripped a boiling hot blue liquid that solidified when it hit the floor. She smiled before she began to grin, licking her lips and turning back to look at the hospital, shoving the needle into a pouch on her hip. "Truly fascinating... Midnight tonight... Hahaha..." She kept her laugh quiet as she turned back around and headed back into the hospital, passing Shelby on the way back. He grin faded as she noticed the look of worry, but she didn't mind. Her... No, his plan was coming along perfectly.

Still, he couldn't waste a single second. As he trekked back through the halls, his body again began to shift. What was fat grew into powerful muscle while his body thickened and grew in size. His chest flattened and gut expanded as his butt shrunk down. His suit soon followed after, shifting from a nurse's dress to the uniform of an officer, a dark blue with as many buttons as could be guessed. He took a deep breath as he reached to his neck, rubbing a few sore muscles before looking for a specific room.

"Ah, how easy it is to fool humans with their blindness to a simple illusion." He looked at a nurse as she passed, his eyes flashing red and looking through the illusion cast by another of his line. He could see she was really an Audino, loyal and obedient, equal to his kind. "It is coming along nicely. Ah, I'm sure you would have loved to see this, dad. Your hard work is being put to great use." He licked his lips and pushed open a door without a handle. Inside, it was dark save but a single candle. Of course, it wasn't a Litwick for reasons, but there was still a candle there.

He entered and stood in the darkness of the shadows, looking at the familiar face of Aaron. The kid was drenched his sweat, his tongue out and dripping a bright blue fluid. He looked exhausted, just as he wanted him to be. The man neared and stood on the opposite side of the oak table, hands crossed as he watched Aaron pant like a dog.

He remained silent for a few more seconds before the illusion broke down. He returned to his original looks as he pulled out a weird stone eye. It looked to shine with life as he began to mumble, holding it simply by its string and watching. When it was fully green, he smirked. He slowly began to reach over to the dazed kid, before a sudden eruption shook the building. He fell forward, knocking over Aaron and snapping the table in half.

The door slammed open almost instantly, a nurse standing in the door with a look of worry. "Sir, one of the generators in the basement blew up! We need you down there right now!" Another explosion shook the building, sending her flying onto her back. "Ouch! Another one?!"

The man stood, using the wall as support. He glared at the floor before standing fully. "Get this kid out of here, and use the amnestics this time. I'll deal with whatever dumbass screwed with the generators this time." He shook his hand, feeling as it snapped several times from an odd position to normal. "Broke my wrist, too. Alright, get him out of here and to his house or something. I'll be back with the idiot below." He began to stumble past, his hips following the same frequent snaps. "Stupid humans. Can't ever do anything right."


	2. Something Less

Tick, tock. Tick, tock. Tick, tock. Tick, tock. The echo of the clock rings lonely, hands slowly sliding past the first second, the thirtieth, to the first minute, to the tenth. A nearby digital clock shows the time to be just about a quarter past three in the morning. It is still dark outside, the only light visible the faint lights of the street lamps below. In his bed, Wilhelm laid on his back, twiddling his thumbs as a heavy bead of sweat rolled down his forehead to his cheeks, then to the sheets below him. His breathing was ragged, sharp and weak, as he laid there, eyes shut tight as though in pain.

As another bead trickled down, he shot up, gasping for air. His eyes opened wide, first purple before returning to a neutral grey. He sat, breathing heavier than a dog out in the desert. He could feel his heart thumping in his chest wildly, threatening to rip itself out and spray all of its liquid life over the floor. It was painful to move for a bit, but when he could, he lied back down, sighing to himself and trying to collect his thoughts.

"What in the hell was that dream?" He raised a sore hand to his forehead to wipe off the sweat that remained. His eyes remained on the roof as a strange pain overtook his hips. He hissed in pain and sat up again, throwing off the covers and rubbing the sore bones. "Not again. I swear I took my medicine this time." He took a bit to get up, his hip popping and making weird sounds as he forced his body to drag itself out of the bed.

He found it a hell to move once there was no support to keep him up. Still, he managed to keep walking forward and to the door of his room. He reached to a nearby wall and flicked on the lights, his eyes squinting in the suddenly bright room. He groaned, holding a hand over his head as he got used to the bright walls.

He took several deep breaths and tried to recollect himself. Wilhelm took quite a few deep breaths before focusing on the door to the nearby restroom. He pushed the door open, the light of his room shining on white walls and the glass of the mirror and shower ahead of him. He stumbled forward through the doorway and to the sink, his hips again popping as he gasped in a sharp and unusual pain.

The pain from Wilhelm's hip began to slowly spread upwards, while his hands and feet began to suffer an excruciating amount of pain. He was forced to lean against the sink as he reached to pull open the mirror to find his medicine. His body suddenly stopped and he collapsed, a loud scream erupting from his lips as more and more snaps and pops began to accompany his twitching body.

His body bent itself nearly in half, his spine ripping from his back before shooting back in and letting the skin quickly heal over it. An odd purple came from beneath the quickly scarring wound. Then, hundreds of scale-like items shredded through his skin. He began to bleed to the floor as he felt everything becoming much larger on him. The scales traveled over his shoulders and to his hand within seconds, covering his hands just as quickly. He tried to reach for something, anything, but his hands began to snap in odd directions, effectively preventing him from grabbing anything. His fingers began to thin at their ends and sharpen like knives while his thumb slowly retreated into his hand. His hand suddenly snapped, his wrist breaking before fixing itself and being set proper.

The transformation only began to get worse from there, or so he noticed. His clothes started to feel much larger as his legs pulled in, twisting in an agony of their own as his toes and feet shortened into dark claws that were similarly scaled and formed like his former hands and arms. From above his rear end came, at first, a black bump, that slowly began to expand further and further until it no longer could. The tail thinned as it expanded until it was as sharp as it could be. Its tip slowly began to seep an orange fluid that slowly trailed from it to his back, where it formed a collection of four rounded digits circular in shape. The scales continued to spread, shredding his skin along their wonderful path. Up and down his body, blood seeped and flowed, before stopping as the scales overtook it.

His face became smaller, his nose closing and growing outwards with his jaw. Had he been able to, he would have reached forward to try and stop it, or possibly even to scream out, but he was in too much pain. Scales expanded from the flesh, covering his mouth and nose in dark scales. Two holes appeared in the scales, allowing him to breath from his nose again. Then, with a wild crack, his body snapped back into its normal positions, and everything slowly began to fade in and out of his vision.

His eyes turned a light purple as they slowly fell shut. A dark warmth covered his head and back as he began to feel all the energy in his body slip away. From some short distance away, he could hear a phone slowly ringing, but it was starting to become too dull to hear. He reached out one last time, looking at his short, black, clawed hand before he finally collapsed, falling unconscious as the final scales set themselves on his chest.

… … …

Shelby hummed lightly as she paced back and forth, her steps clicking gently across the ceramic tiles of her kitchen floor. In her hand was her phone, the other resting behind her back and gently pulling and twisting her pure white night gown. Nearby, sitting with a cup of coffee in his hands, Aaron waited patiently for her to begin talking. Small bags had formed under his eyes from staying up so late, and his clothes reeked of sweat and dirt from running away from wherever he had woken. He didn't even know where he was when he had plowed into Shelby. Still, at least she was nice enough to bring her to her place.

After a few minutes, Shelby set down the phone. She grabbed her own cup, this one with tea, and sat at the opposite end of the table. She remained silent before saying, "He isn't picking up." She sighed, then looked out a nearby window into the poorly lit streets. "I mean, it is almost four in the morning, but I figured he would wake with how loud he naturally is. Guess it can't be helped."

"Guess not." Aaron set his cup down, tapping his fingers together as he looked out the same window. He reached up and wiped his mouth of a little saliva. "I don't blame him. Yesterday was a nightmare and all, so he's probably beyond exhausted. I am, too, really. Haven't slept in a little while now."

Shelby nodded back, then sighed. "Yeah... Maybe we can watch the tele or something. Don't really have much else to do given the time and the fact waking my parents would likely get you shot multiple times in the chest. And trust me when I say nobody wants that to happen to them."

Aaron agreed entirely as he slowly stood, taking a final sip of the steaming cup. He walked over to her sink and set it in carefully, so not to break it or make too much noise. He remained there, a wave of nausea rushing over him for a few seconds. When it passed, he stepped back and smiled at Shelby, who then left the kitchen. He followed her to the living room.

A ravishing velvet room filled with shelves of trophies and accolades was what awaited him. The couches were a bright peach-like color that surrounded an oval coffee table that also faced a television that was probably about 60 inches across it's hypotenuse, though it also appeared higher due to the two-foot stand that it was on. There were tons of awards on the shelves as well. Overall, besides all the windows that looked out to the world, Aaron had to say this was quite the trophy room.

Shelby looked around the room, tapping her foot before hopping over the back of the couch. "If you're wondering who's these are, they're my parents' and brother's," she said, leaning back in the couch. She remained silent as Aaron sat nearby, remaining silent. "They're such show-offs to the point where I'm sick and tired of them. Wish I could do something special, or something to really please them at all." Shelby sighed and laid back, watching the roof for a moment. "Turn on the tele, would you? Remote should be on the table."

Aaron nodded, though he was hesitant to grab for the remote. As he reached for it, a sudden pain hit him square in the chest. He sat back, a hand over the sore spot. Shelby seemed to have noticed him stop as she sat back up and looked to him confused.

"Hey, are you okay?" she asked, looking at his pained expression. "Umm... Do you need any water? Another cup of coffee?" She started to grow a little worried at his lack of a response or expression, but it calmed a little when she saw him pull back and lay on the couch.

"Yeah, just a little pain in my chest was all, Shelby." He chuckled lightly, then slowly sat back up. "Umm... It's a weird question to ask, but where's the bathroom? I'll be quick, promise." He set the weird flotation device down on the table as he tried to ignore the slowly growing pain.

"Oh, well, it's just through the kitchen and down the hall," Shelby began. "Should be the second door on the right, if my memory serves to be correct, which it should be."

"Alright, thanks!" With nothing other than that, Aaron quickly stood, clutching at his heart as he ran to the bathroom. He stumbled into the room and turned on the lights, his breathing hitching as he closed the door and stumbled to the closest mirror. He pulled off his shirt and tried to find anything wrong with that part of his body. "What the? Why is my hair orange?" Aaron reached up to above his chest, scratching at an odd tuft of fur that had appeared above his heart. He could feel it there, soft and oddly warming, but still odd nonetheless. "Probably just me having another hallucination again, I hope. Wait, is it good or bad if this is a hallucination? I think it might depend, actually."

Aaron was about to laugh it off until a sharp pain forced him to have to lean on a nearby wall. He groaned, holding his chest like before. This time, the pain showed no mercy, shredding through his nerves as the hair that had grown in his chest began to spread swiftly. He could feel it move up and down his body, spreading from his chest to his hands in a matter of seconds. He was forced to watch as his fingers became wider and melted together, pain accompanying the sudden reshaping of bones and flesh. His eyes widened in fear as the fur only began to spread faster and faster along both his chest and arms.

A sudden pain in his spin earned a loud scream. His waist lifted from the wall as he struggled to remain standing, his spinal column popping in and out of place multiple times in just a few seconds. His body began to writhe as the pain grew slowly but surely. He could feel his legs shrinking down and being covered in the same bright orange fur, his arms then adding their own addition to the painful snaps that echoed, hopefully, just in the bathroom. Tears fell to the floor as his arms were entirely coated in the fur, then began to shrink closer to his body. A low whine was the only thing to escape his lips before his legs, too, shortened in a quick, painful manner. He was thrown off balance and fell to the floor on his chest, a low groan accompanying the thud.

A loud rip echoed through the room as a powerful pain pushed from his coccyx. A tail sprouted from the tear in his pants, stretching out before splitting down the middle and becoming two bright orange tails tipped in a cream-like color that became conjoined near the base. The fur spread from his tails to his rear, then down his thinning body. Bones creaked and groaned as they slowly shortened, his height falling with them.

Water began to seep from his mouth, flowing to the floor and covering a fair bit in a thin layer of the liquid. He could feel as something inside began to shift and move, shrinking and growing rapidly and without a care for his insides. His pain slowly began to fade as the changes slowed. He fell to the floor, groggy yet wide awake. He was soaking wet, the fur that covered him now heavy with the water that had pooled around him. He tried to remain awake, but a darkness slowly forced itself upon him. A pressure swelled around his neck and throat before all went dark. With a thud, he blacked out on the floor.

Shelby was having a much nicer time than him, flipping through channels on the T.V. to find the news. She wasn't sure why, but listening to that felt like it would lead to a nice and calming time. A sigh was what came from her as the news came on. The volume was low as a person wearing some sort of latex mask talked into the microphone of the news cast. Shelby wondered why, but found it less than intriguing when she noticed the subtitle.

"Moody Blues bassist, Noha Blue, disappears after the band's first live performance in months," she read aloud. She thought a little, not having heard of that band in quite a long time. She was wondering where they had been. "Now I wonder where Noha went. Hopefully the police find her some time soon." Shelby leaned back then turned up the volume to hear what the masked man/woman was saying.

"-disappeared merely moments after returning to her camper, forty hours ago now. Her band members say she was only going to get a drink when they heard a scream come from her camper. When they arrived, she was gone, and a Honchkrow stood on her bed. It is believed she was attacked and kidnapped while the Honchkrow was left behind to warn people. There is no evidence of such a kidnapping, though, as police say the only objects disturbed during any acts of kidnapping were a coffee mug and a spoon. Nothing else was disturbed. Now, back to the actual reporter behind all this. Ni'hana."

Shelby sighed and put her hands behind her head, tapping her foot against the floor until a faint echo of a scream reached her ears. She turned her head, looking to where Aaron had wandered to mere moments before. She went to shrug it off, but the sudden sound of deflating air from a tube made her turn to look at the table. She felt a little more than confused when she noticed that the flotation device was now gone, disappeared without a trace. She looked at the empty spot, then to the kitchen, about six times before putting two and two together. She stood quickly and rushed through the kitchen to the hall.

"Aaron?!" she called out, rushing down the hall to the bathroom. "Hey, are you still here?" When there was no response, she slowed, trying to listen for something to give away the positions of any intruders. Instead came the scent of wet fur. She looked around confused, but it all came crashing down as a pain shot through her head. She was forced to lean on the wall for support, grabbing at her head as a drawn-out pain rocked her to the core. "Ow, ow. Yikes, that hurts."

Through gritted teeth and unsteady legs, Shelby managed to push herself off the wall and stumble to the bathroom. She remained standing, listening for anything, but hearing nothing. With a shaky hand, she pushed the door open, only to find no one inside. At, least, no one that she recognized. Her heart dropped when she noticed a Buizel lying on the floor, passed out and in a puddle of water.

"Oh gods..." Shelby stumbled back, hitting the wall she had previously been on with quite some force. She slid down, hands grasping her hair as the recent memory of the news came back to her. "What is happening? Wh-what is going on? F-first Noha and now Aaron?! I-is this why Wilhelm didn't pick up earlier? Th-there's something so wrong about this! M-mom! Dad! Somebo-" Shelby's voice was caught in her throat as a pain rocketed through her body. First, it came from her toes, but quickly stretched to her throat.

A strange tingle at her feet dragged her attention from the bathroom. Her eyes widened as she noticed a black, keratin-like substance grew over her toes, followed by an eerie pain as they were slowly molded together. She reached down, both curious yet afraid, to try and push it away, or at least find out what the substance was made out of. She found it to be a liquid as it clung to her fingers, slowly dripping down to the floor and her legs.

"M-my goodness. Wh-what is this?" She tried to brush it off with her other hand, only for it to stick there as well. "H-hold on? Is this glue? Where the hell did this come from? And why is it spreading?!"

There were no answers to be found as the black goo forced her finger to meld together, then slowly began to expand up her hands, turning blue along its pathway. A quick glance down showed the same pattern to be happening to her legs at the same time. The goo continued to rise, her body slowly falling with it At times, it would solidify, only to goop up again and slide to the floor. In her panicked state, she almost failed to notice a strange weight at the top of her head. She slowly reached up, goo dripping to the floor as she felt the most solid thing she had felt appear on her body. It was the helmet from before, summoned from her room without her will. It appeared to fall between liquid and solid, but remained solely solid, unlike the goo which was now dripping down her face and chest.

Shelby collapsed to her side, eyes wide as she slowly curled into a ball. There was nothing but a cold warmth that accompanied her body as it turned slowly to a liquid, only to painfully solidify moments later. Within a minute, the goo had risen to her arms and lower belly. Goo dripped against her eyes, though it had already slid down below her lips.

Through her eyes, just barely trough the darkness that was taking over her, she could see her body expand, swell and contract until finally stopping at a certain point. Everything inside felt like a liquid as well, but it felt a little less unnatural than having to watch her skin melt away like it was just wax. Barely did she noticed as he face elongated, the weight on her head growing lighter as things began to shift to their final positions. She slid down the wall as a quick wave of indescribable pain came over her, forcing her liquefying body to tense. Everything fell cold, before warming, repeatedly, on and off. Moments later, as a pain came from her back, she fell into a deep sleep, accompanied only by the Buizel in the room across from her. If only her parents could have seen, then they would understand.

… … …

"Ah, my head..." Noha groaned loudly, her body aching from hours of uneasy rest. Her head pulsed with the pain of a headache that had long been cursed upon her body. She could barely even feel any pain as she raised a feathered arm to her head, though she barely reacted to the shocking sight that was the dark feathers that now made up her arms. "I... guess it shouldn't be shocking anymore," she hissed under her voice, glancing downwards and at her yellow, clawed talons. "I really am a bird now... Honchkrow, I think those men screamed at me... Yeah, I think... I think that's what I am... No point in denying what you know is not a dream."

Noha took several deep breaths before focusing her bright yellow eyes on the room where she was kept. Ahead, barely even three feet so, she could see metal bars. She had been caged since waking, almost two days ago from that calendar she could see across the way. She was sure there were at least thirty other cages, just that she and a lone, nonspeaking Umbreon were the only current residents. There was a pure white table in the center, complete with straps and wrist/ankle holders. She could even see a computer if she peeked against the wall hard enough, but never had she seen it active. Even those men that came in occasionally wouldn't use it. They'd simply gather around the table, play cards for their shift, then leave. It wasn't like anyone would even try to escape this depressing cage room. Two versus an entire facility felt a little unfair to her.

Still, it wasn't like she could really care. She was given a fair amount of human food, especially blueberry muffins, which she loved no matter how many she got. That Umbreon fellow seemed to really like pastries and salads, but rarely did she see him get food. He was out of the room much more often than she was. And from gossip she heard, he had been here only just barely a day longer. Maybe tomorrow she could finally get out and stretch her wings! Oh, the joyous thoughts of spreading her wings and flying through the sky was enough to send a shiver down her spine. She was quick to come from the clouds, realizing it would never happen.

There was another person in the room, she just realized. He was hard to see in all his dark clothes, but her keen eyes had caught the shifting of a powerful being in the back-left corner of the room. Such a struggle it was to see, but it was there. She noticed it shift, almost as if it was moving from an undisturbed rest. There was rustling, followed by a light chuckle. Her head tilted as a towering man slowly slid from the corners, a Zorua on his shoulder, whispering into his ear things even her eyes could not begin to read.

The human held his hands together, and between them was a metallic ball, something resembling a Pokéball but too hard to open on one's own. The human appeared to fiddle with the button, shrinking and growing it at will as he continued to pace near the door. He looked to be waiting for something to happen, and happen it did.

The door was slammed open, two groups of three men each coming in. The first group held two small Pokémon she could barely make out in the dark. She barely noticed the Salandit compared to the Buizel, but the final target was much easier to see. It was a Samurott, though it looked a little like it was made of wax. Two people were constantly rubbing it down with ice cubes, solidifying it before it could melt.

"Ah, I see you have finally gathered these three." The Zorua spoke, though it was the man's mouth that appeared to move. "You six were certainly quick and quite able to influence those pesky humans to hand over the ones who they cared for so seamlessly. Let us see them - the Buizel and Salandit on the table. Put the Samurott in her special cage. It appears a new side effect must be recorded."

The men, probably even women, were quick to obey. The Buizel and Salandit were placed on the table, and soon there was the clinking of metal, and a cold wind rushed through the air for a few moments. It then faltered and grew warm as metal against metal rang out. The man with the Zorua extended an arm, allowing the fox Pokémon to drop to the table and pace around the first of the newcomers.

He remained silent for a while, padding around them, licking his lips continuously as he checked over the Pokémon, reaching to pull open their mouths and checking everything he could. He seemed happy as he returned to his human's shoulder. Well, the thing she could only see as human. It looked like a primarily though not fully dead body in her eyes.

"They appear to be in fit conditions. Of course, as predicted, there are some problems that are easily noticeable." The man waved a hand towards the Salandit first. "Gender swap, as the people call it. Transgender if we wish to be real here. A common side effect that starts its work on the brain near loved or cherished family and friends." He then motioned to the Buizel. "Age regression, also common. The inflicted's body appears to grow younger. They retain their memories, but their personalities seem to shift back to the age that they now are over quite a bit of time. Good, but bad the both of them are. Now, what can you say about the girl?"

"Liquidation." One of the first three entrees raised their hand, their voice high yet powerful. "The infected's body turns into a liquid blob at mildly high temperatures, usually no less than ninety degrees Fahrenheit, while they solidify at no more than sixty degrees Fahrenheit. In between those temperatures, they may remain as a mobile solid, like any normal creature."

"Ah, indeed you are correct, Ms. Adaman," the 'man' said, nodding and holding his hands together tightly. "Unfortunately, it appears to be quite too rare and risky to test the limits of what they can freeze and evaporate at. Only two subjects exist, and one is already too useful. This Samurott, Shelby I think they were called, is too young, too. Imagine the trouble we could get in for killing a child. Whoo, we almost got our asses handed to us that one time."

"Indeed, sir. Actually, if it is not too much of a hassle, I was wondering if you could explain why you chose these kids as your test experiments." A man steppe forward, his hand raised. "We have hundreds of humans in this building, some of which have no families to even care about them. Why kids who have families? Lives?"

"Truly, I wish I could answer." The man remained silent, his thumbs being tapped as his eyebrows scrunched up. "Noha was a loner in every way; she will not be missed for very long. Her bandmates with mourn, then move on for another bassist. Zero already worked here. He has no family, never did. As for the other three, it was truly not a wish I had to steal away the lives of two innocent kids. That Wilhelm, though, oh, he was such a monster! If those two kids had not interfered, I truly would not have touched them. Now I have to write excuses to parents."

"That makes sense." The other person appeared pleased by the short yet direct answer. They turned towards the door for a moment before shaking their head. "I am sorry if this has upset you. I was simply genuinely curious of why human children had to be chosen."

There was silent before a loud knock echoed through the room. The Zorua-man motioned to the Pokémon on the table, then they were carried off and placed in cages near Noha's. Someone slammed the door open, rattling the walls and cages, which earned loud squawk from Noha. The Zorua glanced over, his eyes shining with malice before he focused back on the person in the doorway.

"Oh, dear Professor Samuel, please do not slam the doors open. You have awoken Madam Noha over there; now we must leave." He motioned to the others to leave, then headed to the door. He looked to Noha, then grabbed Samuel by the collar of his shirt. "One more time and it'll be your fucking last, you hear me, you little shit?" The man nodded, then was thrown out of the room. The weird Zorua looked at Noha for a moment, as though trying to read her mind. He then left, softly closing the door behind him, muttering some hidden details under his breath.

Noha remained standing before she slid back down against the wall, wings raised to rub under her eyes. "Oh, dear humans, what simple-minded idiots you are. This will never work, and they know it. He is truly just biding his time before attacking the government and taking it by force. Not like that's even gonna work, either. Gotta love the world for what it is..." Silence echoed, accompanying her none. Not even the newcomers snored. "So sad, really. Oh, silly humans! We will be rescued and your plans foiled! That is truly how these stories work, right? Yeah, of course it is. There's always some sort of hero, inside or out."

She was met with the cold, dreaded echo of the room's only natural sounds. The Umbreon's usual snorts had grown, now husky breaths like those of a hiccup. The new three nary made a sound. She could hear an air conditioner and several grunts of discomfort and annoyance. She could tell they had yet to wake - it would likely be hours if what she thought had been done happened. Still, she was sure something, anything would happen. These men were mad! There would be someone to save them, soon.

Noha slowly moved into a more comfortable position, almost like she was brooding but on the cold floor where it was least comfortable. She ruffled her feathers, spreading them slightly so what felt like a blanket covered her. She looked outside, glancing momentarily into the darkness of the opposing cages.

"Good night," she whispered to herself, closing her eyes and looking into her own darkness. Outside, she felt hope, but she knew nobody would come.


End file.
